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Patti's
Puppy
Guide
©
Patti Rasmussen, 2000, all rights reserved
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FEEDING
Your new puppy is a baby, as such needs
some special care. It will need several meals a day until it
is six months old, and at least two meals a day after that. You
can leave it with a full bowl of kibble and let it regulate its
own food intake if that fits your schedule best. You should,
however, keep a close watch on the puppy's weight to be sure
it is not eating too much or too little.
Do not let your puppy get fat!! Too much
weight is very bad for developing joints and bones. Your veterinarian
will be the best judge of how the puppy is doing. (Usually- some
vets are not very knowledgeable about weight or, perhaps they
just see so many truly obese dogs that their standards are different
from a breeder's). .
Keep in mind that feeding is an important
part of the bonding process. You should feed a good quality puppy
chow until your puppy has completed its growth. We heartily recommend
Science Diet Growth, but realize it is expensive and sometimes
is difficult to find. We have been feeding Purina O.N.E. puppy
chow and have been very pleased with it. You will find that some
kennels, veterinarians and kennel supply stores carry the better
quality dog foods. Any of these high quality foods will be fine.
For supplements you may give a puppy multi-vitamin and bone meal
if you wish, but if you feed Growth these supplements are not
necessary. Cottage cheese, hard-boiled egg, liver, etc. all make
excellent high-protein snacks and diet supplements in small amounts. TOP
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HOUSING
Your puppy will need a quiet place
to retreat to for frequent naps. Like a growing human baby, it
will need to sleep frequently for a while. A crate makes an excellent
"den" for a new puppy, particularly if you drape a
blanket over it for privacy. Outdoors, a dog house will do.
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CRATES
If you don't already have one, we recommend
that you buy a crate for your dog. This all-purpose tool will
become your house trainer, your transporter, your holding pen
and its (the puppy's) safe refuge (den). Crates can be purchased
from Sears, Southern States, good pet stores and animal supply
companies. Your puppy has probably already been crated for at
least a short period for one reason or another . Most puppies/dogs
take to crating very readily. You can make the process even easier
by not using the crate as punishment and by offering incentives
for using it (i.e.: feed the puppy in an open crate, keep the
water bowl in the crate, provide a treat every time you put the
puppy in, etc.). For details about crate training, first go to
Debbie Baird's (Dynasty Samoyeds) pages
on crate training. If you need more, then go to the American
Dog Trainers Network site.
A crate is the safest way for your puppy
to travel in an automobile, although when it is older it will
prefer to sit on the seat with the other passengers. NEVER
put your puppy or dog in the back of a pick up truck. Dogs
should not ride in the back of pickup trucks unless they are
in a secured crate and under a camper top (not safe in summer).
The only exception to this would be travel around a farm or some
similar area of little or no traffic and slow speeds. TOP
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HEALTH
CHECKUPS
If you have purchased from a reputable
breeder, your puppy should come complete with a health record
indicating what shots and worming procedures have already been
taken care of. You should plan to visit your veterinarian immediately
for a complete check-up and so that he/she can continue the all-important
immunizations. Your vet will be able to tell from the health
folder when and what the puppy still needs. The puppy should
be checked periodically to ensure that it remains free of worms,
particularly during the critical growth period.
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TEETHING
Puppies need to chew just as babies
need to teethe. Therefore you should provide sufficient chew
toys, and hard dog biscuits to chew. You will find that if you
don't provide the chewables, your puppy will do it for itself
using rugs, clothes, shoes and furniture. Be careful,
however, about the chewables you provide. Puppies, like
human babies, can choke to death by swallowing items that lodge
in their throats.
THE
FIRST NIGHTS HOME
New puppies frequently cry when first removed from the familiar
warmth of their littermates. You must decide where and how you
expect the puppy to spend its nights. If you start off with it
close by, (or in your bed) it will expect to say there forever.
Of course, as Sam owners know, that is exactly where they think
they belong!
If you wish your puppy to live outside
(hopefully just at night), or in a separate room, you must be
prepared to listen to a lot of complaining until the puppy is
used to being alone. Sometimes a ticking clock will provide some
comfort. The best compromise is probably to have the puppy in
a room with people and with papers on the floor (if you have
no crate). Again, we highly recommend using a crate. TOP
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HOUSEBREAKING
Your puppy is not housebroken (if you don't believe it, just
wait). However, fixing this should not be too difficult if your
are consistent and conscientious. Again, a crate is the best
housebreaker, but ONLY if you are always there to respond to
the puppy's request. If not, it is best to teach the puppy to
use the papers. It will be several months before the puppy can
be expected to have enough control to last more than a couple
of hours without relieving itself somewhere. It is up to you
to show it where and to see that it can get there in time.
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A scolding when a puppy is caught in the
act of a mistake is OK and will help get the message across,
but hitting a puppy (or any age dog) with a newspaper or rubbing
its nose in something it did two hours ago will serve no useful
purpose. Better to encourage the puppy to do the right thing,
and praise it extensively, than to try to punish the mistakes
long after the puppy has forgotten what it did. If you take the
puppy outside frequently, especially right after it wakes up
and right after eating a meal, and tell it to "go potty"
you will find that it quickly learns what it is going outside
for. Of course, instant praise as it responds to "go potty"
(repeated over and over until it actually happens) will cement
the lesson. TOP
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NO
ROAMING
Samoyeds are not generally "stay-at-homes",
and cannot be permitted to run outside whenever they please.
They can, will and (unfortunately) frequently do run for miles,
in front of moving cars, and have been know to pull down livestock.
Please protect you dog, your own feelings and your community
by seeing that your Sammy does not run loose. The modern world
is full of too many dangers for dogs to be allowed to roam the
neighborhood as they did in the "good old days".
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HELPFUL
ORGANIZATIONS
There are many organizations to which Sammy owners can belong.
First, you may have a Samoyed club near you. To locate the nearest
club, go to the SCA's Local
Clubs and Rescue page.
As an example of what you will find, the
Potomac Valley Samoyed
Club is our local breed club. We have two shows and one match
a year , meetings monthly, an annual information fair, and other
activities as they occur to us. The Samoyed
Club of America is the "guardian" of the AKC standard
for the breed. The SCA holds a National
Specialty Show each year in different parts of the country
so that everyone can attend at least one National Specialty at
some time. (In the year 2000, the SCA National will be held in
Frederick, MD) SCA publishes an award-winning magazine that comes
out 4 times a year and contains club business, articles about
showing, agility, obedience, etc. and many pages of advertising
showing pictures of dogs from around the country. The SCA also
publishes and sells much information
about the breed.
There are obedience training clubs for
dog owners who want to compete in obedience trials (or just train
their dogs to a high level), all-breed kennel clubs for people
who are interested in more "doggy" activities, sled
racing organizations, weight pulling, herding, agility, etc,
etc. For more information about obedience go to the top of the
page and click on the 'obedience' button.
Of course, it is also possible to belong
to none of these and just enjoy your family pet. TOP
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PREPARING
FOR THE SHOW RING
If your puppy is one that has the potential to show in the conformation
ring, there are things you can do now that will help to make
it more successful should it ever be shown. One is to have it
stand (on all four legs only, please) for treats, rather than
sit or sit up. Another is to keep it off slippery surfaces (particularly
uncarpeted stairs) for the first year to avoid developing a cow-hocked
rear and hip problems. Exposing your puppy to lots of different
places and activities will help to ensure an outgoing and unafraid
personality. For more information about the show puppy and showing,
see my Show Puppy Guide.
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OBEDIENCE
TRAINING
We strongly recommend that you enroll in an obedience class at
the club
nearest you. We also recommend a training club over classes
given at a local community center, since training clubs tend
to do more to monitor the quality of their instructors. If you
can find a training club that offers puppy classes that would
be ideal. You and your puppy will both benefit greatly from a
good puppy class and it will help you get off on the right foot
(actually the left, since that is the one used to begin heeling).
It may also open up the fun of showing in obedience to both you
and your dog. For a site that lists many training clubs, click here.
We do not recommend paying a professional trainer to train your
dog for you. This does not teach the dog to obey YOU, nor does
it provide the quality time and bonding that working in a class
together can. It also does very little to increase your own skill
in working with your new dog. The best professional trainers
will insist on training you to train your dog. TOP
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ORGANIZED
DOGGY EVENTS
Information about matches (informal
training shows), tattoo clinics (heartily recommended-a tattooed
dog is much easier to find if lost, readily identified, and harder
to steal and sell for animal experiments), and dog shows can
usually be found in the classified sections of your local paper's
Friday, Saturday or Sunday editions. For those in the DC area,
check the Washington Post and Washingtonpost.com, at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com.
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HERE
ARE SOME BOOKS WE HAVE FOUND PARTICULARLY USEFUL
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DOG TRAINING FOR KIDS by A. Carol Lea
Benjamin (Simon and Schuster). An excellent book for any age.
Available in paperback and hardcover. Actually, any of her books
are recommended.
THE ART OF RAISING A PUPPY by the Monks
of New Skeete (Little, Brown & Co.) This is a must read.
It will give you just about everything you need to understand
and know about bringing up a well adjusted puppy.
THE NEW COMPLETE SAMOYED by Robert and
Dolly Ward (Howell Book House). A good all-round book on the
Samoyed in the United States.
UNDERSTANDING YOUR DOG by Dr... Michael
W. Fox. A study of behavior patterns in dogs.
HOW TO BE YOUR DOG'S BEST FRIEND by the
Monks of New Skeete (Little, Brown & Co.)
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© Patti Rasmussen, 2006, all
rights reserved. Not to be copied, downloaded, published or copied
onto web pages without author's permission.
Page design and construction by Stirling Rasmussen.
Linking is encouraged
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